We are all different, seek what drive each of them. Give them at least a task that motivate each and every of them.
What would give them satisfaction should motivate them. Saving Changes...
Deepesh RammoorthyICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood ServiceTarneit, Vic, Australia
A personal trainer training someone to be Fit , needs to go through four stages of motivation. The first stage being that the person has never been interested in fitness and is not motivated at all.
The first stage in sales is that the customer is not interested in your product or does not know about it or does not want to buy it.
In a project scenario, you need to discover what ignites the flame as my friend Kiron has correctly pointed out.
If you are able to ignite the flame in your team member, they will jump to the final rung in Maslow's Hierarchy of needs - Self Actualization without you having to take them through the lower steps Saving Changes...
The secret to success is knowing how to motivate and influence people. You asked how to motivate employees? Well the simple answer is get to know their motives. The next thing is to somehow get your vision or objectives and make them advocates in that vision/objective, and then they will be motivated. Saving Changes...
Interestingly, over the last decade the most important thing I did to increase employee satisfaction was to adopt one of my employees for two days - long enough to be her "father" at the wedding and to throw her a wedding reception. I will not get into the reasons this needed to be done in open forum, sufficient to say it was cultural and got through a family situation that lasted until grandchildren were presented (2 years later.) It took a lot of work. I arranged for an "offsite meeting" at the church, catered the reception at my house (with video - culturally important) and basically created an event that everyone in the project, whether on-shore or in Chennai, contributed. (Yes, there was a project plan for the event.) And at the end, after I danced with the bride (who had never danced before) and handed her off formally to her husband, I had a project team who would do anything for me, with a smile. Never had an employee satisfaction issue after that! I've had people quit, and after talking with them, their reasons transcended the needs of the project, or their direct managers put them in untenable positions, but ratings for project team satisfaction, and indeed all employees at my site, were unmatched.
Every individual is different and so does their motivating needs. It's important to discover what motivates a specific individual . It can range from trust, pursuit of professional development, work life balance, recognition, encouragement and so on. Getting to know that sweet spot which motivates someone is difficult, from there on it gets easier. Saving Changes...
Interestingly, over the last decade the most important thing I did to increase employee satisfaction was to adopt one of my employees for two days - long enough to be her "father" at the wedding and to throw her a wedding reception. I will not get into the reasons this needed to be done in open forum, sufficient to say it was cultural and got through a family situation that lasted until grandchildren were presented (2 years later.) It took a lot of work. I arranged for an "offsite meeting" at the church, catered the reception at my house (with video - culturally important) and basically created an event that everyone in the project, whether on-shore or in Chennai, contributed. (Yes, there was a project plan for the event.) And at the end, after I danced with the bride (who had never danced before) and handed her off formally to her husband, I had a project team who would do anything for me, with a smile. Never had an employee satisfaction issue after that! I've had people quit, and after talking with them, their reasons transcended the needs of the project, or their direct managers put them in untenable positions, but ratings for project team satisfaction, and indeed all employees at my site, were unmatched.
Wow, interesting story! Thank you a lot! Saving Changes...
1. Make sure they clearly understand the requirements for which they are responsible. 2. Make sure they have the resources they need before they need them. 3. Make sure they know what is their allotted portion of the budget and their deadlines. 4. Stay out of their way. Saving Changes...
I tend to ask my employees during 1-on-1's three questions that help when dealing with them in real-world situations.
1) What motivates you at work?
2) How do you deal with stress?
3) What makes you feel valued?
As stated already, employees are people and will always be unique. Figuring out how your people cope with stress and what keeps their passion high will make your job easier in the long run. Saving Changes...
Jim BrandenSenior Project Manager| Retired from UNC Charlotte - IT Services - PPMOCharlotte, Nc, United States
Andreea, thank you for asking. Pat Parelli, a well-known ‘horse whisperer’ makes two points about horses that apply to PM’s teams. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Depending on how you lead the horse, you can make it thirsty!” “A horse does not care how much you know, until the horse knows how much you care.” I’ll recommend a book that all PMs should read. “The Platinum Rule” by Tony Alessandra and Michael J. O’Connor - https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Rule-Disco...s/dp/0446673439 Good luck with all this motivating input from your PM-friends. ;-) Jim Saving Changes...
Janarthanan BalasubramanianSenior Business Analyst| Standard Chartered Global Business ServicesBangalore, Karnataka, India
Because they are not just employees. They play many more different roles in their life, as a son / daughter, a husband / wife, a father / mother, a friend to someone and so on - and each of these roles are demanding and has responsibilities connected to it. There are conflicting priorities which they have to deal with, and when something other than their responsibility as an employee takes higher priority, it becomes difficult to channelize the energy into something which is of lesser priority. That does not mean that they lack motivation. But if we misunderstand the situation, and think that the employee is not motivated, we are at fault. How much do we know them outside their job? How much awareness we have as to what he / she is going through? So, yes. It is a difficult job. Saving Changes...
